Improvement in machines for pressing bonnets and hats



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.EDWIN COPLESTON, OF WRENTHAM, MASSAGHUSETTQ.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR PRESSING ONNETS AND HATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,384, dated August15, 1865.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN CoPLEs'roN, of VVrentham, in the county ofNorfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Machines for Pressing Bonnets and Hats; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use thesame, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which- Figure `1 represents an elevation of mymachine, seen from vthe front; Fig. 2, a plan View of the saine. Fig. 3is an elevation of the standard C, one of its sides being removed.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of my invention is to produce a machine which will enable theoperator to adjust its parts so as to press either bonnets or hats 5also, to save the expense and trouble of the present mode of working,which requires three machines to complete the pressing of a hat also, todecrease the expense. of the castings and other parts of the machineryused in this manufacture. l

A is the table which sustains the press, itself supported upon legs A,the back pair of which (not seen) sustain a rock-shalt., K, which has am ortise, K', for receivingr the short end of the treadle 1, which actsas a lever of thesecond order, the rock-shaft being its fulcrum. Thetreadle passes between the forks ot' the frame J, to which it isattached by ajourual-pin which passes through the treadle, which isenlarged into a hub at that point.

The frame J is composed of the forks connected by the cross-pieceXontheir upper ends, to which cross-piece is secured the upper leaf, J", ofthe clutch, the lower leaf, J', of which is attached to the lower end ofan upright sh aft, L, which passes through the center of thecross-pieceX andthe clutcl1-leafJ/. The shaft Lis not only depressed bymeans of the treadle, but so soon as the clutch is engaged it becomesincapable of any rotary motion, except treadle-frame J also swings aboutwith it. The shaft L passes through the table A', and is held above in abearing, T, secured to the standard Y, which is steadied by astay-piece,

I, secured upon the table A,and by a bracket, W, extending along theback of the standard its whole height, and helping also to sustain theouter end of the hearing T.. A collar, L', on the top ot' the bearing 'lholds the shat't L steady. A collar, f, is secured to the shaft L at anysuitable height, in order to confine a spiral spring, e, which isslipped down upon the shaft, and the lower end of which rests` upon thetable A.

Ironing-arms M, two of which are here shown, are attached by collar andset-screws to the upright shaft at any desired positions, so as to lkind of work, and can be secured to either side of the tlats.

A platform, A, is screwed to the table A at its outer end, having'adepression, n, through out its length, the sides of which are set at anangle, so as to tit the bed Bin the manner of a dovetail joint. Thelower edges ot' the angu lar sides ot' the depression are guttered, asshown in Fig. 3, to allow any foreign or refuse matter to pass offwithout fouling the platform and causing the parts to bind in theirmovements.

An upright collar, b, secured upon the top of the bed B, receives theshaft of the revolving frame C, which shaft is grooved to receive theend of a guiding-pin, d, set in the collar. The frame G is made of theform seen in Figs. l and 3, being bit'urcated from above to receive asegment, S, of a gear or ratchet, which revolves upon a piu or ixedshaft, It, passing through the forks of the frame, and which shaftextends ou each side so as to carry the bevelgeur wheel H and the doublebevel-gear wheel F.

A detent, t, pivoted in the lower part of the "sides of the frame andpressed up against the teeth of the segment by a spring, V, serves tohold the segment, and with it the hat-block, in any desired position.The detent has a handle to enable the operator to disengage it bypressing it against the spring, and thus releasing the segment. A radialpin, r, springs from the upper side of the segment S, which enters ahole in the center of the lower face ot' the hatblockWV, which latter isfree to revolve upon the pin as its axis. A bevel-gear, g, is securedupon the lower face of the hat-block, taking into the bevel-gear H uponone side and into the double bevel-gear wheel F upon the other side. Thebevel-gear wheels H and F are mounted respectively upon collars whichrevolve freely upon the iixed pin R, being only secured so as not tohave end-play thereon. The outermost wheel ofthe double bevel-.gear Fmeshes with the bevel-gear E of theY shaft R, which is supported inbearings upon the outer end of the bracket D, which is secured to theframe C, und moves with it upon its shaft. The gear E moves with itsshaft R', and that is moved by means of a crank, h, or a pulley. v

rIhe parts here shown and described are not all that belong to thelnachine as it is fitted up and adjusted for use, but only such areshown as are necessary to illustrate my invention.

The operation is as follows: The `hat-block W, of whatever shape it maybe, being in place upon the frame U, the arms M are adjusted at a properposition on the upright shaft to bear upon'the different parts oftheblock. The block is turned so as to present the proper-face of the blockto the Hats, both at the beginning and during the continuance oftheoperation of pressing` the hat, by means of the crank 7L on the shaft R,which causes the hat-block to rotate Linder andr against the flatsthrough the bevel-gears E, F,.and g.

The treadle I must be depressed in order to bring the flats down to theproper level, when they are also prevented from moving away from theirwork by reason of the clutch, which, being then engaged, prevents theshaft from revolving upon its axis, and as the collars of the arms arerigidly secured to the shaft they are also prevented from swinging untilthe treadle is released and the spring e disengages the clutch.

The crank h is rigidly secured to the sleeve of the bevel-gear H, andthis device is used for the purpose of tipping bonnets and other partsofthe work whe-rein only a slight movement of the gears is require/d.The edges (or one of them) ofthe upper faces of the flats are madeangular, so as to enable' thc shoes to be easily secured thereto.

It will be seen that the axis about which the hat-block revolves lies inthe same plane with the axis of the bevel-gear wheels H and F, whichcause the hat-block to revolve aboutits vertical axis. It follows thatthe bevel-gear g on the hat-block will continue to mesh with thosebevel-gears whatever the inclination of its vertical axis, andas aconsequence these parts will continue their operation at all angleswithin an are of more than one hundred degrees in this illustration ofmy invention.

My machine will rim a greater variety of shapes than any machine knownto me, and it will rim all the shapes now in fashion, whereas themachines heretofore known cannot rim any of them. I therefore am able toeffect a saving of about fifty per cent. ofthe labor required in thispart of the work. My machine will also press all kinds ot crowns, from ataper to a bell shape, and with either piece blocks or full blocks.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl. In machinesforpressinghatsandbonnets, thecombination of the traveling bed B, the frame C, which revolves upon it,the segmentratchet S, with a hat-block, W, the said plates beingconstructed and operated substantially as and for the purpose abovedescribed.

2. The combination of the parts mentioned in the preceding claim, whichpresents the hatblock in differentpositions, with the arms which carrythe Hats and with the revolving upright shaft, L, the said arms andshaft being constructed and operated substantially as abovev described.

EDWIN GOPLESTON.

, Witnesses: i

SAMUEL WARNER, MARY N. STONE.

